Giving thanks to the Land and our extended beloved community

Gratitude & Thanksgiving

Time spent with caring friends & family, friendly neighbors & kind strangers.

The sunlight on my face, my hair ruffled by the wind, the persistent eternal rhythm of ocean waves.

Quiet comfort, moments of joy, the strength & hopefulness of weeds springing out of cracked cement.

This kind of connection & community with my extended Earth family & human kin helped me break out of depression, get through a worldwide pandemic & the death of a family member.

This connection & community will get me through the challenges to come & it can help you too.

I write this at the beginning of November, deep in the Autumn season. The September Equinox signaled the “official” beginning of Autumn for those of us in the northern hemisphere. Our southern hemisphere family celebrated their Spring Equinox in September.

As the beginning of Autumn, it opens the door to a whole extended time of Thanksgiving for me, which takes us through to the end of the solar year.

In many modern pagan traditions, Fall Equinox is one of the harvest holidays, holy days, a time to come together in community and celebrate our bounty.

After the equinox, we arrive at October/November, a time for many of us in various world traditions to honor our ancestors, whether of blood or heart and hearth, as well as more harvest celebrations and giving thanks!

Towards the end of the solar year, we have our various festivals of light, to encourage hope, compassion, renewal and generosity - - generosity of physical resources and generosity of spirit. And of course, to encourage gratitude.

So when Fall Equinox arrives, I feel as if I'm stepping over the threshold into a very deep and rich celebration of Earth, of our heritage as Earthlings and our extended Earth family.

Connecting With Our More Than Human Kin

What do those holy days & hopes mean for us in terms of our relationship with our not human Earth family, and in terms of how to feel strongly rooted and at ease with changes in seasons and the always changing circumstances of life?

My own personal practices have shown me that including my extended Earth family regularly in my gratitude helps me create a strong network where I'm never alone without resources.

I want to make sure you have that feeling too – that the universe, the air around you and the earth itself is always holding you with love, ready to support you.

If you already include your non-human relatives in your gratitude practices, I’m hoping you'll gain some ideas here to deepen it.

One of the ways we balance ourselves and repair and nurture our relationships is to honor the mutual give-and-take of healthy relationships. Through reciprocity we build a strong foundation of community that anchors us, helps us develop compassion, purpose and creativity in receiving support from others and in showing up to be and give that refuge to others, nonhuman and human.

This can be as simple as offering your breath with loving intentions to the plants, animals, water, the whole life web of a particular place, and you can certainly include humans if you want to.

You can do this while watering your houseplants, by walking through your neighborhood, or by sitting in meditation. Sometimes I like to sit and remember different places and beings that have nourished me and send them well wishes. These could be different places you've grown up or vacationed, a special rock where you liked to sit, or a tree.

If you're someone who likes to make charitable donations during the season of thanks and giving, you can make a donation to support the well-being of a favorite place. You can help spread the word about an ongoing project that supports a favorite place or animal. And, of course, you can donate time as well. It’s our loving intention that makes it into a sacred offering.

Reciprocity & Loving Service

Gratitude Altars

If you're inspired, and you have some space to spare, you can create gratitude altars.

For me personally, I usually create an altar for September Equinox that's maybe up for a week or so.

I send out loving intentions to the land, the elemental energies and non human beings in my family at that time.

In October, I create an altar mostly for my human beloved dead and ancestors of spiritual lineage, cultural lineage, blood lineage, of heart and hearth, although there are a few animal family members included.

When November comes, I create an altar especially for my other than human family that is still in material form on Earth (that is, they’re not ancestors yet,) and also for my non-human ancestors that I want to honor. I might place tokens from my travels on this altar, plants, or drawings.

I use this altar to send out healing intentions through time, space & spirit.

At the end of November, every year on the date for American Thanksgiving, I read out loud the Thanksgiving Address, published by the Tree of Peace Society. See my video below to immerse yourself in this experience.

If you have special practices for this time of year that are close to your heart, I’d love to hear about them. Email me: Katrina@GreenSpiritCraft.com

If a nature-inspired distance Earth Energy Connection session sounds like the support you need right now, I’m here to help. Use the magenta Calendly button on this page to schedule your free 15 min. phone call with me.

If it feels like a good fit for both of us, we'll set up a session.

The first festival of light that usually occurs is Diwali and it can happen as early as end of October, or in November or December. I use December as my time to create an altar to celebrate the hopefulness of Spirit & Light and the renewal of life with the return of the sun.

The Thanksgiving Address